Oh,
I'm just sitting here watching this ice storm shut down the state...How you can have an ice storm when it's 17 deg F is a mystery to me---that's 10 to 15 degrees too cold. But Hey! This is New Jersey! Our state flower is Poison Ivy. Our state bird is the greenhead mosquito.

But we are getting this nasty dangerous wet sleet. Even snow is easier.

We live in New Jersey because it's better to live in the Jughandle State than the Ripoff State (NY--where I was born and grew up). We pay high taxes, but lower than NY. NJ is actually an economic powerhouse and housing prices are STILL going up. Our public schools are among the best. All the drug companies are here in a big way, there are the oil refineries over on the coast, and it's all within easy reach of NYC and Philly, not to mention the vacation areas here, in PA, NY, Ct, and Mass.

While it's very densely populated, especially the eastern side of the state, people don't think to move here...that's OK with us!

We used to live on 4 acres further west. It was beautiful, on what passes for a mountain here, with all kinds of wildlife--the black bears were quite the nuisance. Even here in the 'burbs the deer are like pigeons and the wild turkeys show up regularly.

If you move to NJ, be sure to live on a hill, not a flood plain, and REALLY learn defensive driving! The NJ drivers are bad but the New York and Pa drivers are really crazy!